Insulating material



April 8, 1924.

H. F. WEISS INSULATING MATERIAL Filed Aug. 12 1919 Madison, in thecounty of Dane, State of HOWARD I. WEISS, OI ILDISON,

SPATENT- OFFICE.

Wisconsin, Assrenoa are c. r. numrss LABORA- TORIES, OF MADISON, WNSIN,A CORPORATION 01' WISCONSIN.

irsufarmc m'rlmrhn.

Application filed August 12, ms. minim. 317,001.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD F. Wares, a citizen of .the United States,residing .at

Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inInsulating Material Case D); and I do hereby declare the ollowing to bea full, clear, and exact description/of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it ap ertains to make and usethe same- This invention relates to msulatm materials and similarproducts and has or its objects the provision of an improved insulatingor similar material and animproved method of making the same.

- The vention contemplates, as an article of manufacture, a productparticularly adapted for use as an insulating material, a thou hI do notintend to limit either the artic e or the method of the invention toinsulatin materials since both may be advantageous y ap lied to otheruses. Fibrous material con ed between sheets of paper, or' the like, isextensively used as aheat insulat' construction.Ithastheretoforebeenthegeneral practice to sew the fibrous materialbetween the liners or enclosing sheets of paper. This sewing of thefibrous material between these sheets of paper has heretofore beennecessary, because the'fibres themselves are not cemented or fastened toeach other in such a manner that they form a felt or fabricated sheet,and unless -'the enclosing sheets of-paper were sewed, there would be noway in which the sheets of paper could be ke t in place. The -sewing isobjectionable, rst, because it is expensive, second, be-

' cause it perforates the paper, thereby admitting moistureto the brousmaterial, and third, because the thread frequently breaks off in therocess of manufacture, thus materially reducing the speed and capacityof the manufacturing apparatus.

In my ap lication for Letters Patentof the United States, Serial No. 237,446, filed May 31, 1918, I have described a method of producing a feltor mat of fibrous material, .m which the fibres are bound'or fastenedtogether so as to form anintegral fabric of fibres in heterogeneousarrangement and cemented to ether with adhesive material. I have foundthat a felt or mat in which the fibres are cemented or fastenedtogether, as

medium particularly in building.

described in the aforementioned appIication, is admirably adapted as thefibrous body portion of an nsu ating material.

provision of an insulating material having a body portion of fibrescemented together with one. or more'of the surfaces thereof covered withan adhesive coating. The article of the invention, form, comprises abody portion of fibres 'cemented to ther in hetero eneous arrangementwith t e fibres exten ing in all three cubical dimensions and havin thesurfaces of the body portion coated with a layer of air-resistingand-moisture resisting material, a such, for example, as asphalt, pitch,rubber,

or the like.

The air-resisting and moisture resisting coatingv of adhesive materialreplaces the covering sheets or liners of pa er, cloth, and the like,which have hereto ore been customarily used for enclosing or protectingthe body portion of this form of insulating material; The adhesivecoatin contemplated by the invention may be applied by 1passing thefibrous body portion with the fi res .ce-

in its preferred The present invention vcontemplates the mentedtogether'through appropriately arranged coating or adhesive-ap lyingrolls which serve to spread-a film or ayer of the adhesive coating on tothe ex osed surfaces of the fibrous body portion, tiius forming amoisture and air resistin coverin agent which is directly cemente to thebres of I the body portion. As the adhesive coating, as halt, coal tarand similar-pitches, rubber,

so utions of gums and resins, and the likemsg be advanta eously used.

eference wil be made in the following discussion of the invention to theaccompanying drawings for the purpose of more clearly explaming andillustrating certain aspects of the invention. In these drawingp- I ig.1 dia rammatically illustrates in elevation one orm of ap aratus forcarrying out theinvention but t e showing is purel diagrammatic and isgiven merely to facilltate a complete understanding of the invention.For this reason the precise structural details of the ap aratus areomitted, .as forming no art w atever of the present invention; an Fi' 2is a sectional view of the improved artic eof the invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 a shredding engine 5for separating the fibres into indivi ual part1cles. this figure, thefibrous material 1s fed into the shredding engine 5 from an endless beltor conveyor 6 provided with transversely arranged baflles carries thefibrous material to the mouth of the shredding engine where it is fedinto the engine and sub'ected to a shredding operation of the we -knowncharacter.

The purpose of the shredding operation is to separate the fibres intoindividual particles of such a character that they can be deposited on asupport to form a more or less fiocculent layer of heterogeneouslyarranged fibres a apted to be cemented or fastened together y anadhesive agent to form an integral fabric of fibres. The shreddingoperation should be conducted with the view of cutting the fibres aslittle as possible, and only to such an extent as is necessary to securethe desired separation of the individual fibres. l have herein employedthe term shredding and its derive.

.tives in a generic sense, to describe the op eration of so treating thefibres that each .fibre thereof is substantially free from any otherfibre. In practice, the shredding of the fibres will usually be mostsatisfactorily effected in a shreddlng engine, but the desired resultmay be secured in other ways, as, for example, b brushin or combing. Forexample, a sti wire brush revolving at a high rate of speed and comingin contact with the fibrous material will separate the fibres intoindividual particles of the desired character.

The shredding en e 5 is arranged to discharge the shredde fibres on to abelt conveyor 8 preferably of the form of a screen conveyor. The fibrousmaterial is thus shredded in the engine 5, and, falling through thedischarge thereof, the shredded fibres are deposited on'the conveyor 8to form a fiocculent layer of the desired thickness in which the fibresare heterogeneously arranged with the fibres extending in all threecubical dimensions.

r I find it desirable to subject the shredded fibres to a slight suctiondurin and directly after their deposition on t e conveyor 8. To this enda suction chamber 9 is arranged below the shredding engine 5, anddirectl beneath the supporting screen surface 0 the conveyor 8. Theconveyor 8 ma bein the form of a screen of suitable mes or itssupporting surface may be com sod of a suitabl perforated or foram"material, so that the fibres deposited on the conveyor .may be subjectedto the action of the suction applied beneath the conveyor.

Sprayers 10 are suitably arranged for spra ing the fibres with anadhesive agent as t ey are deposited on the conve or 8. The Sprayers 10serve to discharge t e ador paddles 7. The belt 6' mat or feltcontaining fewer loose fibres is I produced. In some instances, it hasalso been found desirable to deposit a very thin layer of dried fibresupon the conveyor before the application of the adhesive solution, toprovide a cushion, which will act to prevent the fibres from sticking tothe conve or.

dhe layer of shredded fibres deposited on the conveyor 8 is borne alongby the conveyor to a drying chamber 11. A suitable drying medium may bepassed through the chamber 11 for the purpose of drying the layer offibres carried along by the conveyor 8. The chamber 11 is thusrepresented in the drawing as having an entrance conduit 12 and an exitconduit 13 for passing a drying or heatin medium, such as heated air,through the c amber 11. Where the adhesive for cementing the fibrestogether contains a volatile solvent, it will be observed that thesolvent may be removed while the fibrous mat is passing through thedrying chamber 11 and may be recovered by suitably treating the vaporpassing from the chamber 11 through the exit conduit 13. When using anadhesive which dries or sets quickly, the drier 11 can, if desired, beentirely omitted, although its use is preferred. Thus, for example, withsuch adhesives as sodium silicate, I fin'd that drying in a room issuflicient, but that a drier speeds u the rate of drying and for thisreason is esirable.

Numerous adhesive agents are available for cementing the fibres togethersuch, for example, as sodium silicate, asphalt, coal tar pitch, etc. Bysuitably selecting the adhesive for cementing the fibres to her, theresulting fibrous mat can be ren ered fireproof, rat-proof andmoisture-proof. The adhesive may consist of a solution of sodiumsilicate, or sodium silicate may be incorporated with the adhesive as afire re sistant agent. Ammonium sulfate may also be incorporated in theadhesive as a fire,

hesive has set or hardened and the fibres 'sented an articl can also beused as the adhesive. I have drying chamber 17. The finished productfound a solution of coal tar pitch, or asphalt passing from the dryingchamber 17 may be pitch, in carbon tetrachloride, a very suitwoun'dfupona roll or winder 20, and in orable adhesive for cementing the fibrestoder to keep the convolutions of this wound etl1er.- g The greatestcu'bical lightness and resil-- be sprinkled on the material prior to theiency are secured by drying the fibres with winding operation, asindicated by referand prefence character 21 in the drawings.

a minimum of 'pressure on them erably with no pressure at all. Thus, inFrom the foregoing description it will practicing the invention,pressure on the be seen that the fibrous body portion of my fibres afterthey have been deposited in hetimproved insulating material is coveredor erogeneous arrangement and formed into a coated on each surface witha. layer of moisresilient fabric of cemented-together fibres ture andair resisting adhesive material.

is kept at a minimum until after the ad- In Fig. 2 of the drawings thereis reprethereby cemented together. One of the tures of the invention.The body portion characteristic features of the fibrous mat or 23 of theinsulating material is composed-of felt of my improved insulatingmaterial rea layer of fibres cemented together in hetsides in the factthat the fibers extend in all erogeneous arrangement with the fibresexthree cubical dimensions, whereby a single tending in all threecubical dimen- $5 layer or integral fabric of cemented-togethsions. Eachsurface of this fibrous body er fibres is obtained. Such a fabric inwhich portion is coated or covered with a layer 24 the fibres arecemented together in heteroof adhesive material, such as asphalt, coaltar geneous arrangement to form a light and pitch, rubber. or the like,thereby providing resilient fibrous mat or felt is admirably a moistureand air resisting covering agent adapted as the. body portion of aninsulatwhich is directly cemented to the fibrous ing material and whenenclosed between airbody portion of the insulating material. resistingand moisture resisting adhesive I claim:

coatings, in accordance with the present in- 1 The method of forming afibrous mat,

e embodying the novel fea- S0 vention, produces an" insulating materialwhich comprises shredding the fiber, coating possessing many points ofsuperiority over the fiber with an adhesive, depositing the similarroducts of the prior art. coated fiber in a loose fiocculent layer ofThe fabricated felt or mat of cementedheterogeneously arrangedindividual fibers,

together fibres, produced as herein'before dewhereby the fibers will besecured together scribed, passes fro-m the drier 11 on to a n a loose,open and p'orous formation, drybelt conveyor 14. A covering or coatingof ing the layer and coating the opposite faces adhesive material isspreadon the upper with a material substanti ll impervious t surface ofthe fibrous mat by means of a air and moisture. coating roll 15 which isfed with the adhe- 2. The method of manufacturing insulatsive from a pan16. The thus-coated fibrous ing material which comprises, forming a matpasses through a drying chamber 17 body portion of fibres cementedtogether in where the adhesive coating sets or hardens heterogeneousarrangement with the fibres into an air-resisting and moisture resistingextending in all three cubical dimensions, covering for one surface ofthe insulating and coating one or more surfaces of the mat. The coatingroll 15 is designed to fibrous body portion with a layer of adspread onto the upper surface of the fibrous hesive material substantiallyimpervious to mat a layer of adhesive material of the deair andmoisture; substantially as described. sired thickness, and thedimensions of the 3. The method of manufacturing insulatdrying chamber17 are such that this layer ing material which comprises, depositing ofadhesive sets or hardens during the pasfibrous material upon a supportto form a sage of the material therethrough. layer of the desiredthickness, treating the The fibrous mat is then turned back and bres asthey fall with an adhesive spray advanced through the drying chamber 17in to cement them together, and covering one the reverse direction,being supported duror more surfaces of the resulting layer of ing thismovement upon a belt conveyor 22 cemented-together fibres with a coatingof arranged below the conveyor 14 and operaadhesive substantiallyimpervious to air and tively moving in the reverse direction.Primoisture; substantially as described. or to its entrance into thedrying chamber 4. The method of manufacturing insulat- 17. the othersurface of the fibrous mat is ing material which comprises, forming acoated with adhesive material by means of a layer of fibres inheterogeneous arran ecoating roll 18 and cooperating pan 19 conment withthe fibres extending in all three tammg the adhesive material. Theadhecubical. dimensions, treating the fibres with sive/ coating orcovering applied to the an adhesive to cement them together, re-

fibrous mat by the roll 18 sets or hardens moving dust and loose fibresby suction and during the passage of the mat through the coating one ormore surfaces of the resulting layer of cemented-together fibres with acovering of adhesive substantially 1mper vious to air and moisture;substantially as described.

5. The method of manufiacturing insulating material which comprises,subjecting fibrous material to a shredding operation, depositing theshredded fibres upon a support to form a layer of the desired thickness,spraying the shredded fibres w1th an adhesive while the fibres are beingdeposite to cement the fibres together, sub eeting said layer tosuction, and coating one or more surfaces of the fibrous mat so producedwith a layer of material substantially impervious to air and moisture;substantially as de scribed.

6. A fibrous mat, composed of fibers heterogeneously arranged, andcemented together in a loose, open porous formation, and provided on oneor more faces with coatings of material substantially impervious to airand moisture.

7. An article of manufacture comprising sive and having an inte a1fiabrie of fibres cemented together mvhetemgeneous arrangement with thefibres extending in all three cubical dimensions and coated with a layerof material substantially impervious to air and moisture; substantiallyas described.

8. An article of manufacture comprisi w a body portion ofheterogeneously arrange woody fibres cemented together with adheone ormore surfaces thereof covered with a coating of adhesive substantiallyimpervious to air and moisture; substantially as described.

9. An article of manufacture comprising a body portion of wood fibrescemented together in heterogeneous arrangement wit the fibres extendingin all three cubical dimensions and having one or more surfaces thereofcovered with a coating of adhesive material substantially moisture;substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HOWARD F. WEISS.

impervious to air and

